Sweater knitters are many; but I’m not usually one of them. For one thing, sweaters are expensive—even something as budget-friendly as Wool of the Andes (which, in my view, is like the Costco rotisserie chicken of yarns) will add up when you need 10 balls of it. And then there’s the time commitment; design usually takes all my weekday knitting time, and gifts take the weekends, so carving out the weeks’ worth of time to make a whole sweater is a bit like trying to open an oyster with a pencil. And then there are so many patterns to choose from, and I change my mind about as often as Gollum & Smeagol…so in short, I’ve only ever finished one adult sweater in twelve years of knitting.
Until now!
Soldotna is done! It’s still unblocked and festooned with ends; however, it will be hitting the blocking boards sometime this week and finished off as a proper sweater should be, and sent off to (I hope) a happy recipient. (More details & pictures forthcoming!) I’ll also be reviewing the yarn (Kelbourne Woolens Andorra), which was one of the most unique and fun yarns I’ve worked with in quite a while.
As if that weren’t enough, I’ve started a second sweater for me! I’d been eyeing Cheryl Toy’s Ammonite Top for over a year but never seriously thought I’d have time or yarn for it; but when SweetGeorgia Yarns announced their Spring Makealong, the opportunity to make a pattern I loved, and enter a contest, and be a good girl and use stash yarn was too much to resist. This is Madelinetosh Twist Light in the Fallen Cloud colorway (now discontinued), which a friend of mine spotted in a thrift store for $4 a hank; it’s a delightful, complex blue with pops of silver and taupe, and the yarn has lovely sheen and drape.
Only a few knitters have posted their Ammonite projects on Ravelry, and many of them have had to make adjustments to the pattern to make their finished sweater come out like the photos; while I’ve found the same thing, I think the finished piece will be completely worth it. And can I just say how much fun those lace scallops are?
I’m quite diverted by this little sweater adventure—while I’m no Dana Williams-Johnson yet (27 sweaters in a year might be just a bit too optimistic), I wouldn’t mind tumbling a little further down this tunnel. I’m already scheming about what my next sweater project should be. Lariat? Circlet? Trust? What about Plant Lady, which I’ve mentioned before? I do have some lovely merino-cashmere-nylon in my stash…
Smeagol knows!
That Ammonite Top certainly looks well worth breaking into sweater-making again! It’s very pleasing to the eye, and would be as practical a garment as it is artistic!
Yes, I think it’ll be a great wardrobe piece – thanks for the encouragement, Annie!
Beautiful, both of them. Bravo!
Thank you! 😁